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Category Archives: Unfamiliar Texts

The poem below is called Lost Generation and it’s by Jonathan Reed. Here’s it is:

I am part of a lost generation.
And I refuse to believe that
I can change the world.
I realize this may be a shock, but
“Happiness comes from within”
Is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy”
So in thirty years, I will tell my children
They are not the most important thing in my life.
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
Work
Is more important than
Family
I tell you this:
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
But this will not be true in my era.
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
Thirty years from now, I will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of my divorce.
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making.
In the future,
Environmental destruction will be the norm.
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this Earth.
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic.
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we reverse it.

Lost Generation is a palindrome poem. The inspiration for this poem came from an Argentinian political advertisement, ‘The Truth’ by RECREAR.

Got the tip about this handy little list from the English forum. It does what it says on the tin and explains 16 literary techniques clearly and with examples from Disney films. See the whole list at BuzzFeed Books.

President Barack Obama hailed Martin Luther King Jr for saving America from oppression but said “constant vigilance” was needed to keep the civil rights icon’s dream of equality alive.

Fifty years after the “I have a dream speech,” America’s first black president stood poignantly on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, where King made an appearance in 1963 which changed history.

“He offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike,” Obama said, in a ringing address, which he admitted beforehand would not match King’s oratory.

“His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time,” Obama said.

Last week we also discussed satire. Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organisations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change.

Famous examples from literature include George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. Look at The Onion and The Daily Show for satires of the American news media.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. People often use expressions such as “I nearly died laughing,” and “I tried a thousand times.” Such statements are not literally true, but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasise something, such as a feeling, effort, or reaction.

In the Year 9 and 10 exams you will sit three papers – response to texts, formal writing and unfamiliar texts.

Today I will talk about the unfamiliar texts paper which will require you to read a range of short texts. The texts that you will be given are ones that you have not previously studied. After you have read the texts you will answer questions that test your understanding of ideas, writing style and language use.

In the exam you will read examples of written and visual language. Examples that may be used from each text type include: